Craniosacral therapy
Craniosacral therapy (CST) or cranial osteopathy is a form of alternative medicine that uses gentle touch to feel non-existent rhythmic movements of the skull's bones and supposedly adjust the immovable joints of the skull to achieve a therapeutic result. CST is a pseudoscience and its practice has been characterized as quackery. It is based on fundamental misconceptions about the anatomy and physiology of the human skull and is promoted as a cure-all for a variety of health conditions.
| Craniosacral therapy (CST) | |
|---|---|
| Cranial-sacral therapy Cranial osteopathy Cranial therapy Craniopathy Sacro-occipital technique Bio-cranial therapy | |
Craniosacral therapy | |
| Alternative therapy | |
| NCCIH Classification | Manipulation and body-based |
| School | Osteopathy |
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| Alternative medicine |
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CST was invented in the 1970s by John Upledger as an offshoot of cranial osteopathy, which had been devised in the 1930s by William Garner Sutherland.
Medical research has found no significant evidence that either CST or cranial osteopathy confers any health benefit, and attempts to manipulate the bones of the skull can be harmful, particularly for children or infants. The basic assumptions of CST are not true, and practitioners produce conflicting and mutually exclusive diagnoses of the same patients.